Single Actuator Tendon Driven Two Finger Linkage Gripper with Strong Pinch and Adaptable Cylindrical Grasp

Jayant Unde, Jacinto Colan, Yaonan Zhu, Tadayoshi Aoyama, Yasuhisa Hasegawa

Abstract: This paper presents the design and development of a single actuator tendon driven two-finger linkage gripper that can perform both strong pinch and adaptable cylindrical grasp. The gripper mechanism consists of an anthropomorphic linkage finger with an additional revolute joint driven by a single actuator and a fixed thumb. The gripper can achieve a maximum pinch force of 11.7 N and an adaptable grasping ranging from 30 mm to 145 mm diameter, making it suitable for various applications, such as pick-and-place tasks in robotics and automation. Moreover, complaint design makes it suitable for the safe physical human robot interaction. In addition, proposed linkage finger’s characteristics were evaluated through kinematic analysis, simulation and experimental tests of prototype. The proposed gripper design is simple, low-cost, and easy to implement, making it an attractive alternative to more complex and expensive gripper designs.